HOUSTON, Aug. 21 -- About 24 people were arrested Tuesday after agents of the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Houston, the largest city in the U.S.
state of Texas, raided about 60 homes for growing marijuana.

According to local TV channel ABC13 reports, the raids, which started early
Tuesday morning and lasted all day, were conducted in the counties such as
Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery. The raided homes were believed to be part of a
marijuana growing operation.

Investigators said that the marijuana growing in a house in the Woodlands and
40 others across the area was linked to a Vietnamese organized crime ring.

"This Vietnamese organization, they do that, they look for homes in a very
unassuming neighborhood and they move in. They rent the house, maintain a very
low key. Sometimes they befriend the neighbors and they set up shop and try not
to make any commotion," Houston DEA Special Agent Thomas Hinojosa was quoted as
saying.

The marijuana found in one home alone was reportedly worth about 6 million
U.S. dollars, and investigators described the marijuana that the homes were
growing as "very strong, potent, very dangerous."